The Way Home
by Sophisticus
Summary: Veronica thinks they've finally found the key to making the Heleus cluster into a home; at least, until the shit hits the fan.
1. The Disconnect

Aside from a handful of Remnant observers that were easily dispatched, Meridian seemed eerily quiet as the team made their way through the ruins. Even the deep hum of machinery was quiet, and it made the short hairs on the back of Veronica's neck stand on end.

Just a few short minutes after the last observer had been shot down, the squad slowed to a stop before a console.

"This is the navpoint for the controls," Veronica said aloud to nobody in particular, glancing at the analysis on her scanner. "It looks like there are launch bays near here, and 'possible links to Meridian deployment'. SAM, are we ready?"

"All relevant data is queued for uplink," the AI intoned.

"Right." Ryder turned and glanced back at her companions: Vetra, whose eyes glittered with excitement as she gave a nod; and Liam, face set in determination and confidence. She gave her lover a quick grin before turning back around. "Let's…find a path."

She extended a hand above the triangular console, whose surface rippled under her touch. The now-familiar flutter of the technology interacting with her SAM implant tickled at her inner ear. The console whirred and chirruped as the technology fired back and forth, and its soft blue glow brightened and lifted until a holographic display illuminated the room. A smaller, shimmering image of the Scourge floated in front of them, and within it, tiny orange flecks of light began streaming from the point where they knew the Remnant city ruins to be.

"Remnant ships have lifted off," SAM informed them. "They're following the override vector."

"The Scourge is moving, but they're getting through to…something," Veronica mused, watching the display carefully. The flecks of light slowed to a stop on the far side of the cluster, and on the display, a new object appeared: a shimmering, rippling sphere.

"Meridian, Pathfinder," SAM said finally. Despite herself, she almost thought the AI sounded emotionally moved at the sight.

"Are we sure that's a planet?" Liam chimed in. "It doesn't look like any planet I've ever seen."

"The data's strange, it's saying it's hollow," Vetra added, tapping at her omni-tool.

"A self-contained seed world. It is the heart of the vault network, and when reactivated, every connected planet will be effected. It is the means to make Heleus a home, Pathfinder," SAM explained.

Veronica couldn't help but allow her excitement to bubble to the surface. "This is the day everyone in the Initiative has hoped and worked for, ever since we left our own stars," she exclaimed.

"Congratulations, Pathfinder."

The low, rough voice echoed throughout the chamber and instantly chilled everyone's blood. Veronica's head whipped around, searching for the source of the voice. Vetra and Liam drew and cocked their weapons, instantly alert.

"A great day for us all," the Archon's voice continued. His voice, translated via SAM, sounded as if it found their language distasteful; it felt as if he tried to chew up the words like a mouthful of pebbles, but instead spat them out. The rough and gravelly words seemed to emanate from everywhere.

Veronica's vision began flickering, and a flash of pain shot through her skull as sudden as a lightning strike. She held her hand to her head and groaned. "SAM? Tempest, what's going on?" she gasped.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and heard Liam's voice, but before she could understand what he was saying he was drowned out by a piercing ringing in her ears. Pain flashed through her head again, centering in her inner ear, but didn't abate this time. Veronica clenched her eyes shut as she fell to her hands and knees, her gun clattering to the floor. Light flickered behind her closed eyelids; as if she was watching security feed, she could somehow see the Archon, his back to her, his hand resting on the console in SAM node. The undulating blue orb that represented SAM fractured and flashed a warning orange, before flickering dangerously.

Above all this, she heard moans of agony as if through gritted teeth. Dimly, she recognized them as her own.

Finally, mercifully, the agony receded somewhat, enough that she could stagger to her feet. Veronica swayed dangerously, and Liam and Vetra's scared and worried faces swam into her vision.

"'m'fine," she slurred at them. Her voice sounded muted to her own ears, and when her companions opened their mouths, she couldn't hear their protestations and anxious questions.

"I believed you a fitting rival," the Archon's voice continued distantly, contemptuous and confident in his victory, "but you are a false thing. A lie. Once I saw what made you special – your connection – I knew how and _when_ to take it from you."

"Get to the Tempest," Veronica grunted past a fresh jolt of pain in her throbbing head. Her heart pounded a staccato rhythm against her ribcage, and she turned and staggered unsteadily towards the doorway. Her legs felt like cooked pasta underneath her, and she barely made it three steps before the Remnant blast doors hissed smoothly shut behind them, locking them in.

"I _allowed_ you to find Meridian. And now, I'll use your SAM to weaponize it. All of Heleus will be exalted, or, one by one, your worlds will die – starting with Eos." Agony flashed through Veronica's head once more, and this time only Liam's firm grip allowed her to stay upright. Meanwhile, the Archon continued gloating. "All I need to begin is an implant like yours. And thanks to your memories, I know who else has one."

Veronica stopped cold, her face white as a sheet. "No," she whispered.

"Another reason to take the Hyperion. Fall to darkness, Pathfinder. You were almost worthy." And finally, the Archon was silent.

"NO!" Veronica screamed aloud and flung herself at the sealed blast doors. Her fists slapped weakly against the metal as she slumped to the floor, gasping for breath. Blackness clouded her vision as she struggled to breathe; her heart beat faster, faster, until all at once, it beat no more.

The Hyperion was in chaos. An alarm wailed, accompanied by flashing lights which illuminated the people scrambling for safety. Scott, who had _finally_ been cleared to leave medbay just the day before, had donned his armor and was trying to help make sense of the chaos.

"Keep going, get to the medbay, it's still secure!" he shouted, waving the panicked colonists in the right direction. Behind him, Dr. Carlyle jogged up.

"What the hell is happening?" he demanded. Scott huffed a breath.

"Hell if I know," he replied shortly. The doctor pursed his lips in anxiety, but turned to help an injured man.

Scott had just began moving when SAM chimed in his ear. "Hello, Scott," the AI said. The connection sounded clearer than normal, as if it were a whisper in his ear, instead of a voice over speaker.

"SAM? What are you… what's happening?" he demanded. "I hear weapons fire."

"Kett forces are sweeping the ship. They're looking for you."

"Me?" Scott stilled at that, but SAM's calm voice shook him back to reality.

"Scott, the Pathfinder needs your help."

"Are you crazy?" Ryder hissed finally, moving once more. His eyes flicked back and forth, on the lookout for kett. He'd never seen one in person, but he'd seen pictures of the aliens. "She's closing on Meridian, she could be across the cluster for all I know."

"The Archon has severed my link to your sister's implant," SAM explained. "If basic function isn't manually restored, she will die."

Scott jerked to a stop once more, his blood freezing at SAM's words. "What?" was the only thing he could manage to say past the sudden, choking feeling rising in him.

"Scott, please. Proceed to depot K-4 to secure a weapon," SAM instructed.

He ground his teeth, and forced his feet to continue one in front of the other, towards the armory. "God damn it," he swore under his breath.

As soon as the crowd cleared, Scott broke into a run. "Give me context, SAM!" he commanded.

"The Archon isn't stealing the Hyperion. He wants you and me," the AI explained. "Your implant is the same as the Pathfinder's. He'll use us to control Meridian, and your sister will die."

Scott skidded to a stop and jerked open the weapons locker. "The Archon is going to kill her?" he said, aghast.

"No. Losing me will. Hostiles are ahead, Scott. Be ready."

Scott bit back the dread and his torrent of questions, and grabbed a pistol. An explanation could wait; Veronica's life was on the line.

As he made his way through the corridor to the main ark atrium, SAM spoke again. "I am sorry I can't help you fight," SAM added, more quietly. To Scott, the AI almost sounded remorseful. "I took over too much of your sister's implant, and losing me will kill her."

"So when the comms dropped, she did too?" Scott prodded.

"Hurry, Scott."

His stomach clenched painfully in fear, but when the last door slid open and the kett shouted at the sight of him, he didn't flinch away from the fight. Scott took two down before ducking behind a crate for cover. A kett leapt close, trying to block him in, but he struck it down with his omni-blade. A minute later, the last few kett lay dead and bleeding on the floor, and Scott was on the move again.

The lower decks swarmed with kett, but Hyperion and Nexus forces, civilian and soldier alike, fought back valiantly. Scott spotted Kandros darting around, blasting away, and beyond the turian, Captain Dunn holding her own. The captain spotted him, and made her way over to him.

"Scott!" she shouted over the din. "SAM said you're fighting to the comms override? You can't!"

"I know! SAM's not making any sense!" he shouted back. He peered around the edge of the crate he was using for cover, aimed, and brought down a kett with a single shot to the head before ducking back.

"No, I mean take the access route." Their eyes met briefly, and the captain nodded at a small maintenance door to the side. In an instant, her plan was clear: the chances of kett infiltrating the maintenance tunnels was unlikely.

Dunn put two fingers in her mouth and whistled sharply; ahead of them, Kandros' head whipped around and nodded in acknowledgement. "You two won't be able to hold off all these kett forever," Scott protested.

"Then make it quick!" Still Scott hesitated, until Dunn shoved him roughly. "Goddamn it, _get going_!"

Together, she and the turian laid down cover fire, allowing Scott to dart to the maintenance entrance and slip inside just before a few bolts slammed into the bulkhead behind him.

The sounds of fighting dropped away quickly, and soon his only companion was his harsh breathing and the pounding of his heart in his chest. "SAM, Dunn won't last long against that," he panted. "What's the plan here?"

"Manually send a reboot signal. It will reset your sister's implant," the AI replied. Scott skidded around a corner, and let out a huff when he spotted the comms room.

"Like a factory reset?" Scott said absentmindedly, already fiddling with the controls.

"To restore the functions I shouldn't have taken. With luck, her heart will not have stopped."

Scott couldn't help but let out a grim chuckle at that. "Since when do you believe in luck?"

For the first time ever, SAM seemed to hesitate. "I'm…not sure."

Scott quickly rebooted the system and began bypassing security protocols. "Alright, we're here," he muttered as he approached the necessary programming.

"One pulse, Scott. That's all the Pathfinder needs."

Scott glanced out the doorway, where the sounds of fighting were steadily growing louder. "And I'm guessing the pulse will alert the Archon," he guessed. "He'll know right where to find me."

"I am sorry." Movement in the corner of his eye made him level his weapon, just as two kett burst into the room.

"Niad shurid!" one of them shouted. They both aimed their weapons at him and advanced steadily.

Scott let out a breath, steeled himself, and pressed the button, one hand still holding his pistol on the kett. The console beeped softly, indicating the pulse was sent.

"Me too, SAM. Me too."


	2. Altruistic to Excess

Vetra slammed the butt of her rifle against the sealed blast doors, grunting with effort. "Work, you Remnant piece of shit!" she shouted. She may as well have been telling a mountain to crack in half, for all it obeyed.

Liam knelt on the floor. He'd pulled away the chestpiece of Veronica's armor and begun pumping her chest with his hands, pausing only to pinch her nose and force breath into her lungs. " _Fuck_!" he shouted. "Wake up, goddamn it!"

Still, she lay utterly, completely still.

"Tempest, Ryder is down," Vetra shouted into her comm. "Kallo! Suvi! The Pathfinder is _down_ , we need extraction NOW! Tempest, come in!"

Liam leaned down and pressed his forehead against his lover's. "Please," he whispered, tears in the corners of his eyes. "I can't watch you die again."

Almost before he finished speaking, Veronica suddenly sucked in a ragged breath. Her eyes snapped open and she jerked upright, eyes wild and hands grasping. Liam caught her hands in his, stilling them, but his own eyes were just as wide.

"Liam!" she wheezed.

"Veronica!" he gasped. "You're alive!" He pressed his forehead against hers, tangling his fingers in her teal hair. In the dim blue light, she could see tear tracks glittering on his cheeks.

Beside them, Vetra hurried over and knelt beside them. "Ryder? But you were dead! Again," she added, almost as an afterthought.

"The Hyperion has gone dark, and SAM with it," Veronica explained grimly. "We have to go back." She staggered to her feet, swaying dangerously; only Liam's firm grip on her arm kept her upright.

"The door's Remnant, if SAM's out of commission then you can't do anything with it," Vetra interjected.

"We need to get back," Veronica said breathlessly. Losing SAM had done considerable damage to her body, of that she was certain. Her head swam as Liam reluctantly helped her hobble over to the Remnant console. "We have no choice."

She held her hand out over the console, and focused on activating the usual technological pathways. The console's surface started to ripple under her touch, but stuttered, resisting her. At the same time, agony erupted once more in her inner ear, where her SAM implant sat, useless. A groan of effort slipped past her lips as she collapsed against the console.

"Veronica, stop!" Liam urged her. "It's too much to do without SAM."

"We _need_ to get back," Veronica repeated through gritted teeth. She pressed her palm against the console's surface and mentally pushed again. Nausea rose and threatened to vomit, but she beat it back. The Remnant door slowly slid partly open; it allowed a space of maybe a foot before sliding shut once more.

"Ryder, stop!" Vetra begged. "You're going to kill yourself."

Veronica fixed the turian with a hard stare. "You heard him, that slimy bastard is hunting my brother," she ground out. "I will not let him take Scott."

Vetra looked wholly displeased, as did Liam, but they both bit back any retorts. The Pathfinder returned her attention to the Remnant console. One more time, she pushed against the console's programming; once more, agony bloomed inside her head; once more, the Remnant door unlatched and slid open, but this time it finally – mercifully – opened all the way.

Liam gave a low whistle of admiration. "Are you sure you're going to make it?" he asked quietly.

"I don't have a choice," Veronica panted. "To the Tempest. We have to go _now_." Her stomach roiled, threatening to empty its contents, and she allowed herself three seconds to compose herself before she forced herself upright and took off at an unsteady jog, pausing only to retrieve her dropped assault rifle. Liam and Vetra followed close behind, and she could feel their concern radiating off them in waves.

They'd made it about fifty yards before the radio on her omni-tool crackled to life. From it came a faint, staticy voice she recognized.

"Try it now," Gil was saying.

"Pathfinder!" Kallo called, then groaned in frustration. "Oh, come on-"

"Tempest, we read you," Veronica replied, turning another corner.

"I got her!" Kallo shouted, delighted. "I got- _hey_!"

"Pathfinder!" Now Suvi's voice came through. "Kett took down the comms and hijacked the Hyperion!"

"I know," Veronica grunted grimly. "The Archon's been planning this since we infiltrated his flagship. He used me."

"Have Lexi on standby," Liam interjected. "Ryder's hurt bad." Veronica shot him a look, which he met steadily.

Suvi swore loudly before fading as she moved away from the mic.

"We're getting reports from…well, everywhere," Kallo said. "All remaining kett ships are on the move."

"It's the Archon's doing," Veronica explained. "If he manages to take Meridian, he's gonna start destroying worlds – starting with Eos. He thinks he's won."

"Pathfinder?" Suvi said hesitantly. "It kind of feels like he has."

The team turned one last corner, and the corridor opened up to the docking bay. Most of the rest of the Tempest crew had disembarked and stood around the ship's landing struts. As soon as Veronica stepped into view, Lexi broke away and ran over.

"Ryder! _There_ you are!" she panted, skidding to a stop. She grabbed Veronica's face and peered closely at her, feeling her pulse with one hand and scanning her with the omni-tool on the other. "You _really_ need to stop doing this."

"Nice to see you too, doc," the Pathfinder grumbled. "Any news on the ark?"

"Still headed to Meridian with a small flotilla," Kallo said grimly over the comm. "You got the last signal before the Archon locked it down."

"We're not letting this stand," Liam said fiercely. "We need to move."

"Wait, we need a plan," Cora interrupted. "We can't just go off half-cocked."

"Stop ship, kill jerk," Peebee interjected. "Pretty simple if you ask me."

"With what?" Cora demanded hotly.

"We may be outgunned, but there's always a way," Veronica exclaimed. She shook her head as if to clear cobwebs from her mind, and her eye landed on a Remnant console off to the side. "There's always…a way."

"He's got the Hyperion, that's how many thousand hostages?" Vetra railed, gesturing passionately.

"How many worlds does he destroy if we don't move?" Drack pointed out.

"And now many do we save if we get ourselves killed?" Cora shot back. None of them noticed as Veronica walked slowly over to the console, staring at it thoughtfully.

"Well we have to do _something_ , right?" Peebee asked desperately.

"I know!" Cora threw her hands up in the air. "But the Tempest is just one ship, and she's not even armed!"

The arguing cut off suddenly as the deck pitched and shuddered under their feet. As one, they turned to see Veronica, her hand outstretched over the console, her face pale but set. The deck stilled briefly, but she pushed again hard, baring her teeth against the blinding agony that blossomed inside her skull. The entire Remnant city rumbled around them, lights flickering on as massive hidden machinery whirred to life. Blast doors slid back to reveal massive Remnant ships rising all around them. Everyone stared, awestruck, as around them dozens, no, _hundreds_ of Remnant ships powered up and lifted off, hovering just outside of the thin atmosphere that clung to the Remnant city.

"Ryder, you've done the impossible!" Peebee's awestruck voice came from behind her, and she turned to see all of her companions staring at the newly raised fleet in awe.

"Can you keep it up? Have them fight for us?" Cora asked. Veronica nodded, but stopped when she felt something trickling down her face. She raised a hand to her lips, and her gloved hand came away smeared in blood. She hurriedly wiped away the nosebleed, but Cora's eyes narrowed, and she knew she'd seen.

"Kett are tough, but Remnant hit hard," Vetra remarked dryly.

"The promise of that could inspire others to join in – across the cluster," Jaal exclaimed excitedly.

"We have a 'for real' shot at this," Liam added. His eyes found Veronica's, and his smile was full of blinding hope and trust.

"Rally the troops for a final stand," Drack grunted.

"Not a last stand, a victory," Veronica corrected. "We're not throwing anyone's lives away, but the Remnant give us a real shot at victory, a chance worth taking. But we're not going to do this alone. We have allies across the cluster; the angara, the Outcasts, the Nexus. I can't think of a single person I've met who doesn't want to kick the Archon's ass, most of the kett excluded. Put out the call to _everyone,_ an open invitation to all of Heleus. We're going to fuck his shit up, and everybody's invited."

Veronica gave everyone a faint smile, then turned and headed back to the Tempest. After a moment's hesitation, the rest of the crew followed suit.

Four hours later, following an extraordinarily thorough examination by Lexi, and an ear-bending lecture from both Lexi and Cora about pushing herself past her limits and ignoring her body's warnings, Veronica was finally released to prepare for the upcoming battle. She had finally begun to adapt to SAM's sudden absence, but Lexi had whipped up a prescription that helped with the dizziness and pain. All drawbacks of having an implant right up next to your inner ear, the asari had explained.

No sooner had the medbay doors hissed shut behind her than the radio on her comm crackled to life. "You've got everyone working, Pathfinder," Liam's voice said, "but we need to talk. Meet me in the meeting room." Veronica frowned at his tone; the man rarely sounded so serious, let alone upset. Still, she climbed up the ladder to the upper deck and headed towards the research room, and beyond that, the mission room.

As she reached the top of the stairwell, Liam was facing away from her, leaning over the edge of the railing and staring pensively out the window. He didn't move as she approached, or when she stroked her fingertips gently down his spine. "Liam?"

"Good speech out there, you can really work it when you need to," he said. "Bradley said they'll throw in however they can. It's looking good, real good." He finally turned to face her. His brow was drawn in concern, and he met her gaze unflinchingly. "Are you okay? I get that this is our one shot and all, but… I know being disconnected from SAM hurt you. Bad. You're acting fine but I need to know if you really are. It's important to me that you're alright."

Veronica stepped close, and their hands entwined. "I…I'm really not," she confessed in a whisper. Liam's free hand reached up and stroked her face, tucking stray strands of hair behind her ear.

"You're not alone, Veronica," he swore. "Me, Cora, Vetra, Drack, Peebee – hell, even Suvi, Kallo, and Gil – we're all here to stand beside you. You won't face this alone, we got this. And after all this, I know you'll be taken care of. You'll have anything you need, to recover." His fingertips traced over the side of her head, where she knew she had a scar from the SAM implant's insertion surgery.

Veronica smiled softly, reached up and planted a soft kiss on Liam's stubbly jaw before wrapping her arms around him. "Thank you," she said quietly.

He hugged her back tightly and kissed the top of her head. "There you go," he said, and she could hear the smile in his voice.

"Pathfinder?" Kallo's voice echoed from the comm system, and Veronica pulled away from the hug.

"Go ahead."

"We're approaching the navpoint for Meridian."

"Understood." Veronica glanced at Liam, and gave a stronger smile. The corner of his lips quirked up, and he gave her a mock salute.

"Give 'em hell, Pathfinder."


	3. The Bonds that Tie

Veronica had just made it down to the research room when the door to the biolab slid open, revealing Cora pinning her with a disapproving stare. Ryder heaved a sigh and went over. "What's the matter?"

"I saw what happened out there," Cora accused.

"Waste of a good speech if you didn't," Veronica said breezily.

"Not that, and you know it." Cora crossed her arms and stared her down. The Pathfinder pursed her lips, and nodded to step further inside the lab. The doors slid shut behind the women, affording them some privacy. "Using Remnant tech without SAM hurts you. A lot."

Unconsciously, Veronica wiped under her nose again. She'd cleaned up the blood just prior to being subjected to a dozen and a half scans by Lexi, but she knew she hadn't avoided Cora's sharp gaze.

"Believe me, I know," she said finally. "But it inspired everybody. We have a real shot." She hesitated for a moment before adding, "don't tell Liam."

"You have to tell him eventually."

"I will. Once this is over. I can't afford to have him worrying I'm going to drop at any moment," Ryder sighed. "I need him at his best, just like the rest of you."

"Everything or nothing. It seems we keep having to make that deal," the older woman said grimly. "Maybe you _can_ raise a fleet, and make a bunch of explorers act like soldiers for a day. I only know one thing: we _can't_ bury another Pathfinder."

The earnestness in Cora's voice made Veronica's gaze drop. "If I can't manage it, I know everything will be fine in the hands of my second."

When Ryder looked back up, she expected to see intensity in the other woman's face. What she didn't expect was _anger._

"Cut the shit, Ryder," Cora snapped. "You really think all this happened _just_ because you're a Pathfinder? The title of Pathfinder is just that, a title. A fancy name plaque on a desk. What _you_ are is so much more than that. You helped settle all of our outposts. You fought back the kett. You tracked down and rescued the other three arks. You interfaced with ancient alien technology to _terraform entire planets._ You've died _three times_ and come back! You honestly believe any one of us would've been able to manage all of that to any degree of the success you have?

"And beyond that," she continued, "is what you mean to everybody. The friendships you've built here, the emotional support and saving each other's lives time and time again, you can't really be willing to throw that all away. You are not disposable. Do you have any idea how heartbroken all of your friends would be if they realized you thought that?"

A dull blush finally brought some color to Veronica's cheeks as she considered the woman's words. Cora stared her down until Ryder finally gave a sheepish smile and nodded.

"Glad we understand each other," Cora said firmly, then shooed her towards the bridge.

The Archon slowly paced the length of the Hyperion's bridge. Two chairs had been dragged in, to which Captain Dunn and Scott had been bound. Before them loomed the massive globe of the Meridian, the system's starlight glinting dully off its textured surface.

"It is beautiful, isn't it? This weapon?" the Archon said aloud to nobody in particular. "It created life, and yet only I see its full potential. I even have the means to achieve it." He turned and faced Scott, his hands clasped behind his back. "Using you. I saw you from my flagship – in the Pathfinder's memories. You have an implant…and the connection." The alien stepped close, looming over them, his pale eyes glittering. "And with that connection, I will take Meridian. And then Heleus will either surrender…or burn."

"You're wasting your time," Scott said scornfully. "My sister will stop you."

From the science station controls came a quiet but insistent beeping, and the Archon's thin lips quirked in an approximation of a smirk. "We shall see soon enough, because your Pathfinder is already here." He turned and face the front viewport just as dozens of ships dropped out of FTL just ahead of them, on the other side of Meridian. Scott recognized their design as Remnant, but before he could voice his confusion, none other than the Tempest herself dropped out in the middle of the fleet. Even as it approached the Hyperion, more Remnant ships continued appearing behind it.

"Veronica," Scott said softly.

"You really think she can do this?" Dunn muttered to where only he could hear. He glanced at her, and gave a quick smirk.

"It looks bad, I'm not gonna lie," he replied. "But my sister is the most badass person I know. If anybody can do this, it's her."

The viewing screen hummed as a connection was made, and Scott watched as his twin's face flickered into life on-screen. He had never seen her look so haggard or beaten down, yet there was a steely glint in her eye that belied her appearance. "If it isn't Archon Assmeister" she drawled.

"You continue to defy your limitations," the Archon remarked. "Impressive."

"Scott, are you alright?" she asked tersely.

"He's insane!" Scott called to her. "He wants to exalt everyone. If we don't surrender, he'll use Meridian to kill everyone. That's why he disconnected SAM, and took me."

"You say that as if I ought to feel guilty," the Arhon said dismissively, half turning to glance at Scott. "Exaltation is a _gift_. Those who can't see that, deserve to die." He turned back to Veronica, who stared down at him with undisguised hatred. "You still command Remnant, but that began with the SAM and the implant. And now I have both. I no longer need you, Pathfinder. But since you insist on interfering, I'll give you my _full_ attention." He turned and nodded at one of the kett at the pilot's console, who turned to enter the commands. The communications screen flickered, and went dark.

"Multiple inbound hostiles, Pathfinder," Suvi warned. "The flagship, a dozen smaller armaments, and at least a hundred smaller vessels being deployed."

"They're firing!" Kallo chimed in.

Veronica swore loudly. "We have shields on this thing, right!?"

With a sweep of her hand across the console, she set the Remnant ships flying to their defense. The action left her pale-faced and nauseous with pain, but thankfully Kallo and Suvi seemed occupied avoiding the kett and didn't seem to notice. The Tempest ducked and weaved, Kallo's deft piloting skills keeping them just a breath ahead of the enemy.

"This is a bit more than we thought!" Suvi called out, hands flying over her console.

"We've got this," Veronica reassured her. She tapped some buttons on the main console, adjusting the Remnant's orders with a grimace. As she did so, the radio crackled to life.

"They're closing, all sides!" an unknown voice cried.

"We need cover. Hug the Remnant ships," another voice ordered. Veronica glanced at Suvi, who seemed as confused as she was. Kallo offered a shrug.

"Motherless, this is just like skirting Aya!" a third voice swore, and Ryder's mouth dropped open as it clicked.

"It's the angara!" Kallo exclaimed. "They're fighting the kett!"

"Thought you would do this without us, did you?" the radio asked dryly.

"Evfra, you tough old bastard!" Veronica shouted into the comm. Behind her, from the depths of the Tempest, they all heard Jaal whooping in delight. "Give them hell!"

"You don't give us orders, Pathfinder Ryder," was the reply, but she could hear the grim smirk.

Kallo swore as he made a particularly tight turn, barely avoiding a tendril of the Scourge. "Rock and a hard place, Ryder!" he huffed in frustration. "I don't know which is worse, the Scourge or the kett!"

Deep in the recesses of her mind, a little flag popped up. "The Scourge and the kett…" she said thoughtfully, mulling it over for just a moment before making the snap decision. "Kallo! How close can you edge the Scourge?" she barked.

Kallo's head snapped around and gave her a bewildered stare. "Too close? Why?"

"I just realized the Remnant are pulling our best chance at winning this!" When Kallo only looked more confused, Veronica shook her head. "Never mind, just get in close and trust me. We're going to use the cluster's biggest headache to our advantage."

The salarian nodded and obeyed and Ryder tapped at her console, directing the Remnant in a new direction.

The handful of biggest Remnant ships advanced quickly upon the Archon's flagship, weaving new trails of Scourge behind them. The Tempest clung tightly to the underbelly of one, avoiding both incoming fire and the Scourge. Behind them, countless small kett ships crashed and exploded in the Scourge's wisps. Slowly, the Remnant ships spread out, and weaved a net of the deadly tendrils around the flagship, and behind it, the Hyperion, trapping both against the exterior of the Meridian.

Kallo laughed in amazement as he realized what they'd done, and Suvi gave a cheer as the radio crackled. "Never been so glad to see that stuff!" an angaran pilot exclaimed.

"Get the Hyperion," Veronica commanded. Her mouth thinned as her display flickered, and the Archon's face appeared once more. "Archon! Don't blame your people for this," she taunted. "This clusterfuck is all on you. I'm not playing your games anymore."

"You wish to force my hand? So be it," the Archon declared. He turned from the screen, and with a gesture a small machine the size of a rifle floated up and hovered in front of Scott, who suddenly looked nauseous. "Unlike you and the Pathfinder, I do not require an implant. I have _yours_."

The machine flared bright red, aiming the beam of light directly at Scott. His back arched as a scream was torn from him, and he strained against his restraints to no effect.

"You've made this much more difficult, Pathfinder," the Archon continued. He turned back to the screen and met her infuriated gaze steadily, with Scott's cries and moans of agony continuing behind him. "But not for me." With that, the display darkened, cutting off her twin's screams.

Veronica's hands gripped the control panel until it creaked in protest. She stood stock still, her face white with rage, as through the viewport they watched the surface of Meridian ripple and open, allowing the Hyperion to slip inside.

"Kallo," Ryder ground out through gritted teeth.

"On it." The Tempest's engine roared, and they darted inside the sphere after the ark.


End file.
